


the tabernacle reconstructed

by QuietLittleVoices



Series: The Other Side [8]
Category: King Falls AM (Podcast)
Genre: Angst, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-24
Updated: 2018-08-24
Packaged: 2019-07-01 23:15:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15784125
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QuietLittleVoices/pseuds/QuietLittleVoices
Summary: Jack opened his eyes and the light was blinding. From the biting pain he knew, somewhere deep in his instincts, that he was staring up at the sun for the first time in over a year. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to cut the pain in half, and when he opened them again there was shade and Sammy’s face hovering above him. And then Lily was there, too, and all three of them were laying on the hard ground with their arms wrapped around each other. Jack thought he might have said something, but he couldn’t be sure.[Or: the two weeks after they save Jack]





	the tabernacle reconstructed

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! Lots of people left comments on my fics last week and I have only to credit that to helloearthling's #influence I think lmao so... thank u love u and everyone should also comment on this fic bc i love feeling valid

Jack opened his eyes and the light was blinding. From the biting pain he knew, somewhere deep in his instincts, that he was staring up at the sun for the first time in over a year. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to cut the pain in half, and when he opened them again there was shade and Sammy’s face hovering above him. And then Lily was there, too, and all three of them were laying on the hard ground with their arms wrapped around each other. Jack thought he might have said something, but he couldn’t be sure.

They took Jack to the hospital - Sammy, Lily, and the three people that no one had bothered introducing to Jack yet and who he was too tired to ask about. Those three got kicked out almost immediately when he got set up in a group room and hooked up to an IV. Apparently he was severely malnourished and dehydrated, but nothing else seemed to be seriously wrong with him - at least, physically. They tried to kick Sammy out because he wasn’t technically ‘family’ and Jack had tried to protest but he couldn’t find his voice, he just reached out to try and grab Sammy’s sleeve to physically keep him there. He was surprised when Lily put her hand on his wrist to keep him from pulling out the needles, and she forced the doctors to let Sammy stay. When they bothered to check Jack’s records and saw Sammy listed as his emergency contact and next of kin, though, they stopped trying and Sammy pulled a chair up as close to Jack’s bed as he could get.

He met Ben and Emily first, the next day. Sammy explained that Ben had been assigned as his partner for the last year and Jack felt a twinge - it wasn’t jealousy, just the feeling of  _ missing out _ on a year of Sammy’s life. He knew he would have to get used to it, especially when Sammy said that Ben was his best friend - Jack was happy that Sammy had found someone to support him, but he wished that he’d been there all along to see it. It wasn’t just that he wished he’d never disappeared, though there was that as well, but he wished that he could have seen how Sammy had gotten more confident. He didn’t let go of Jack’s hand the whole time that Ben and Emily were there, and Jack realized without it being said that Sammy had told them already. 

He stayed at Big Pine Memorial Hospital for a week before they went back to DC. Lily didn’t come with them, even though Jack had half expected her to, because apparently she’d made a life for herself in King Falls that she seemed reluctant to leave. Jack was happy for her, too.

 

Jack hadn’t realized it would be a problem until he woke up in his and Sammy’s bedroom screaming. The lights had never been fully off in the hospital, so it was his first brush with darkness. Sammy managed to wake him up and calm him down, turning the lights on and then just laying with him in silence until the sun came up. Sammy wound his arms tightly around Jack, who rested his head on Sammy’s chest, just listening to the unsteady rhythm of his breathing and heartbeat and the rush of blood in his veins.

The first thing that they did in the morning was buy nightlights, and the second was to go to see Reagan.

“We’re all so happy you’re safe,” she said, giving him a tight hug.

Ben came over to the apartment in the afternoon and Jack saw just how ridiculous he and Sammy were together. They acted like brothers, play-wrestling and teasing each other mercilessly, and Jack couldn’t help but laugh at them. It reminded him of himself and Lily when they were teenagers.

The sound of Jack’s laugh made Sammy freeze and Jack was worried for a minute that he’d done something wrong, that he’d sounded different, but Sammy grinned and came over to kiss him. Right there in their living room, in front of Ben.

“You two are  _ so  _ sappy,” Ben said, almost complaining but smiling too wide to pull it off.

Sammy just rolled his eyes. “You’ve never seen yourself with Emily,” he retorted, returning easily to the light mood of the room. “Trust me, you’re worse.”

 

It had been less than two weeks, and already there was something nagging at Jack in the back of his mind, and it didn’t take long for Sammy to pick up on it.

“What’s wrong?” he asked quietly, trying not to break the stillness.

They were in bed, lying awake together in a way that was quickly becoming a habit. They’d talked in bed before, but the context was different - back then, it was intimacy and familiarity and comfort. Now, it was still all that, but Jack struggled getting to sleep at all and Sammy didn’t want to ‘leave him alone’, no matter how many times Jack tried to insist that at least one of them should get some sleep.

Jack shrugged in response, aware that he’d waited a second too long, and Sammy rubbed a hand up his back.

“You don’t  _ have _ to,” Sammy said slowly, “but I want to know when something’s wrong, Jack. I want you to know you can tell me anything, no matter how bad you think it is.”

Jack turned his face towards Sammy’s chest, letting that muffle his words.

Sammy shifted. “C’mon.”

“You and Lily both found things that make you really happy,” he said finally. “She has the radio station and you have Ben and I’m so happy for both of you.”

Sammy waited a moment for Jack to continue. “But…,” he prompted gently when it became clear that Jack wasn’t going to speak on his own.

Jack sighed. “But you found it because I died. I made you both so miserable in those last few weeks, and then you found all this because I was gone, and I can’t help but feel like you would have been happier if I had stayed gone.”

Sammy’s arms had tightened around him almost reflexively as Jack spoke. “I could never be happier without you,” he said, voice low and deadly serious. “I was a fucking wreck. You can ask Reagan. Meeting Ben kept me from - from really doing something stupid, and he helped me look for you, but I would never have been happy again without you.”

“I kind of hate that, too,” Jack admitted with a humourless laugh. “I don’t like the idea of you being sad forever.”

Sammy ran his fingers through Jack’s hair and pressed a kiss to the top of his head. “You’re back, though, and I’m not gonna lose you again. So we don’t have to worry about it.”

Jack nodded but he didn’t say anything, trying to let himself sink into Sammy’s side.

They were quiet for a moment, lapsing back into the comfortable silence, before Sammy spoke. “When did you start remodelling your office?”

Jack was startled by the question. He’d almost forgotten - so much had happened since then, and he hadn’t realized that  _ obviously _ Sammy had been in his office in the last year. “After we told Reagan,” he said softly. “We talked about having a baby, remember? I just couldn’t stop thinking about it, so I just… wanted to have everything ready, even if we probably wouldn’t have one for a while.”

“It hurt to see,” Sammy admitted. “I didn’t know what had happened to you, especially at first, and I wasn’t sure that I would be able to save you or bring you back to me, so it was just this - this tribute to a family I was never going to have.” His voice shook and Jack shifted so that his chin was on Sammy’s shoulder and he could rest his forehead against Sammy’s. “But it also reminded me that even with… everything that happened at the end, there, that you loved me and you loved our family.”

“I do love you,” Jack replied softly. “I do love our family.”

Sammy smiled, trying awkwardly to look him in the eye. “I know. But I needed that reminder without you here to say it.”

“I’m sorry,” Jack murmured, and he leaned forwards to kiss Sammy softly.

Sammy shook his head. “Don’t apologize. It isn’t something you did on purpose, and we can fix it now. As soon as we want, we can just go to city hall, get married, and start the adoption process. Just say the word.”

Jack closed his eyes and sunk back down, getting comfortable again. He didn’t answer, but he knew that he didn’t have to. He just listened to the noises of the room, and Sammy’s breathing as it slowly but surely evened out and he fell asleep.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm Trying to work on another case fic for this series in what I'm referring to in my head and notes as 'the Ben fics' which take place.. after this one does and after the 'main series' so there's that to look out for !
> 
> Unfortunately, the reason why they haven't been written yet is because I sprained my wrist and was also sad about it so I basically was sleeping or in pain for the last two days and then I wrote this entire fic on my phone at 10pm last night.


End file.
